Keynoting the event was Shelley Metzenbaum, Associate Director for
Performance and Personnel Management, OMB.She told the audience that Performance Management is a core pillar of
the Obama Administration and that Measurement and Analysis was the key tenet to
PM.She encouraged the audience to
identify analytics practices that work and spread the word to others.She exhorted the audience to not just collect
data but to use the data to pinpoint problems – “Ask Why, Why, Why” with
respect to performance problems.

The report studied 7 programs[ii] in 8 federal
agencies to understand how they use analytics and how it helped them achieve
better program results.The study
provides clear examples of how data is being used to understand problems and
improve mission performance.It
documents how CMS is using data to answer the question why isn’t health care
quality better and how can we direct scare resources to improve it?In a similar fashion, VA and HUD are using
data to figure out how to reduce homelessness of Veterans including identifying
bottlenecks that are keeping their voucher program from being more
successful.David Zlowe, Performance
Improvement Officer at VA, emphasized in the study that the power of VA’s
analytics approach isn’t in the numbers but in the discussion that are sparked….having
leadership engage in an appreciative conversation guided by hard data.” The 4th program that the
Partnership reported on in some detail is the FAA’s Safety Management
System.This program helps to identify
risks and to understand what contributes to all levels of hazards.

The Partnership event included a panel discussion with Michelle Snyder,
Deputy COO, CMS;Estelle Richman, COO
and Acting Deputy Secretary, HUD; and David Zlowe, PIO, VA. Ms.
Snyder’s advice to the audience was, “Take data, analyze it, tell the story to
the people so it relates and influences the decision makers.”Ms. Richman’s recommendation was to remember
that the analytics are but a method to accomplish the goal of creating an
outcome that can improve people’s lives.And Mr. Zlowe summarized by saying, “We don’t lack data, we lack
answers.”

We’d like to hear your experiences driving decisions based on data
in the government.If you'd like a copy of the report, write to me at:ASCdc@us.ibm.com

Frank Stein

Director, Analytics
Solution Center

Washington, DC

[i] The Study was a
collaboration between IBM’s Center for the Business of Government and the
Partnership for Public Service